Six people taken hostage in Paris bank

CRETEIL: Two men who burst into a bank in a Paris suburb near Europe's biggest wholesale food market took four employees and two customers hostage on Tuesday, police and the bank said.

An elite police unit was in position around the Credit Lyonnais branch near Rungis market and its officers were negotiating with the men. Police would not say if the men were armed.

A bank employee who managed to escape when the two men arrived around 10:00 am (local time) had alerted police, police said.

Credit Lyonnnais said two staff members had been released by the men.

The bank is in a shopping mall at the foot of a tower block that houses the administrative offices of the Rungis market.